Pyo Ye-Rim tried to challenge South Korea’s growing problem of school bullies, which had long been a taboo subject. It ended up costing her her life.
She shared her experiences of twelve years of bullying at school on social media. Her public confession shook the country and sparked a wave of support. She became the face of the fight to change the law and attitudes. Faced with a flood of thousands of testimonials, South Korean society finally seems to be waking up to the scale of the phenomenon.
At the root of the problem is an ultra-competitive education system that struggles to protect victims of bullying. Many see suicide as the only way to end their suffering. Pyo Ye-rim ended up caught up in this vicious cycle. Her testimony led to her bullying resuming ten years later, but this time on social media. She took her own life and left a farewell video with a single wish: to see the law change one day.